prisoner rights

06.26.17

Bail Reform Key to Solving Jail Overcrowding

By James Kosmatka

“On Wednesday, June 14^th, Sheriff Jim Neil declared a state of emergency at the Hamilton County Justice Center due to jail overcrowding. The ACLU of Ohio has taken bail reform head on, and it is rapidly becoming one of our main criminal justice focus areas.

12.16.16

Truth in Sentencing

By James Kosmatka

Sentenced to ten years, out in two. Outrageous!

And false.

The myth that prisoners serve small fractions of sentences is one of the most destructive falsehoods driving the tragedy of mass incarceration. In Ohio and elsewhere, the use of parole and probation has shrunk to levels that can only be described as harmful to us all.

11.30.16

Citizens Influencing Constitutional Law

By Katrice Williams

In modern America’s contentious political climate, we often hear about “activist judges” writing laws from the bench. The Supreme Court, consisting of nine judges who are appointed by the President and Congress for life, may seem far removed from the populist democracy created by the founders, and while voters appear to have very little say in how the Supreme Court decides cases, David Cole’s book Engines of Liberty: the Power of Citizen Activists to Make Constitutional Law shows that community members have great influence over Constitutional law, even before an stately body such as the Supreme Court.

08.23.16

The DOJ Is Ending Its Use of Private Prisons: But What About Ohio?

By Steve David

Last week, the Department of Justice announced an end to using private prisons to hold federal prisoners. This decision followed a scathing report which highlighted that private prisons are less safe, provide less services and programs, and do not substantially save on costs.

07.08.16

Locked Down, Locked Away: What’s It Like Being Released from Solitary Confinement?

By Adrienne Gavula

Mr. Kenyatta is a prisoner rights activist and businessman who was released from prison 13 years ago. He spent time in solitary confinement at both of Ohio’s maximum-security prisons and was part of the ACLU lawsuit, Austin v Wilkinson, which drastically changed prisoner classification in Ohio to ensure more humane living conditions.

06.17.16

Orange is the New Black Tackles Prisons For Profit

By Dan Rogan

Orange is the New Black – the binge-worthy, Peabody Award Winning, Netflix series – returns with Season 4 on June 17. Last season, the fictional Litchfield Correctional Facility faced closing its doors due to lack of funding and is soon after taken over by a private prison corporation.

06.08.16

A Family Surviving Solitary Confinement

By Adrienne Gavula

This post is part of the joint report between Disability Rights Ohio and the ACLU of Ohio – “Shining a Light on Solitary Confinement: Why Ohio Needs Reform.” Take action to reform solitary confinement in Ohio.

Justin committed a crime. He was found guilty of aggravated murder and robbery, along with two others.

11.06.15

A Call for Justice: Piper Kerman at the 2015 Ed Likover Memorial Lecture

By Dan Rogan

“We must talk seriously about criminal justice reform because of how close it is connected to racial justice,” said Piper Kerman, discussing the intrinsic relationship between the two issues. Piper’s words struck a chord over 300 attendees at this year’s Ed Likover Memorial Lecture.

10.16.15

The Harsh Realities of Prison, Through the Lens of Piper Kerman, Author of Orange is the New Black

By Dan Rogan

Prison is not the easiest topic to make entertaining, but The Washington Post called “Orange is the New Black” “the best TV show about prison ever made.” Of course “Orange is the New Black” is not all entertainment, and not entirely fiction.

09.14.15

“Orange is the New Black” Author to Speak at Upcoming Ed Likover Memorial Lecture

By Dan Rogan

Are you hooked on the Peabody Award-winning, critically acclaimed Netflix series “Orange is the New Black?”

The stories of main character Piper Chapman’s time in prison have been shown on screens across the country, and brought prison issues to the conscience of the general public.

07.06.15

My Interview With a Corrections Officer

By Adrienne Gavula

Often, when we as a society talk about reforming our criminal justice system, it’s about finding jobs for individuals released from prison or diverting them to treatment in the first place. Rarely do we focus on the conditions of incarceration and its impact on people once they’re released.

06.24.15

How a Hunger Strike Caused Change in Youngstown Prison Policy

By Adrienne Gavula

If you go without food for just eight hours, your body will decrease its use of energy, the heart will pump slower, you will produce less heat, and hunger pains build.

Earlier this year, the ACLU of Ohio watched in dismay as people in Ohio’s super-maximum security prison in Youngstown went on a hunger strike.

05.11.15

Solitary Confinement is NOT Rehabilitative

By Adrienne Gavula

It was a chilly October last year when my colleague and I visited the super-maximum security (super-max) Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown. Before entering, I thought there was nothing more restrictive than the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, aka Lucasville prison. I could not have been more wrong.

04.29.15

Ohio Prisons, Solitary Confinement and Mental Illness

By Adrienne Gavula

Let’s imagine…

You are locked inside a room the size of your bathroom for 23 hours a day and let outside for one hour, but only when it’s warm and only in a cage the size of a walk-in closet. Your meals are eaten inside this room, and there is limited reading and television access.

04.20.15

Name Game: Ohio Can’t Hide Solitary Confinement

By Adrienne Gavula

It doesn’t matter whether you call it local control, disciplinary control, administrative segregation, or restrictive housing, it’s extreme isolation. Putting people in solitary confinement is something the U.S. Supreme Court has deemed “physical and mental torture.”

Since 2012, Ohio has operated a tiered system in which prisoners are given a level ranging from 5b down to 1.

12.13.14

Mass Incarceration Means Mass Health Problems

By Adrienne Gavula

Our country’s public health is at risk. No, it’s not from Ebola or this year’s virulent strain of the flu.

It’s from mass incarceration.

A new report, “On Life Support: Public Health in the Age of Mass Incarceration,” issued by the Vera Institute of Justice, focuses on the alarming impacts of imprisonment on individual and community health.